It has been an exciting day on the farmlet. The Ambler, a handsome angus bull, has come to visit our three dear cows.
The Ambler
We are pleased that The Ambler could find time in his schedule to come over here, and are very grateful to our neighbours, Ronnie and Kevin, for lending him to us. He should be a fine mate for our cows. For one thing, he is not too large. This doesn’t matter so much with a bigger cow like Esmerelda who has already had one calf, but we have heard that smaller heifers like Rosie and Coco can end up with calving problems if the sire is too large. The Ambler is also very quiet and good-natured, as bulls go. We are glad we can still go into the paddock to check up on our cows without the threat of being charged by an aggressive bull. The angus is a good breed for meat. That suits us well, since we are not looking to breed any replacement milking cows this year.
This morning, we lured our three cows into a nice new paddock by tempting them with a bucket of kiwifruit peels. We left them in their new quarters while we walked over to Ronnie and Kevin’s place to fetch The Ambler. Then Ronnie, The Ambler, Kevin and I all ambled back to our place. Two of Ronnie’s friendly hand-reared sheep wanted to come with us as well, but we left them behind once we walked off Ronnie’s property.
The Ambler seemed very excited to be arriving at a nice fresh grassy paddock with three beautiful cows in it. As we approached the paddock, he smelled the cows and made what Kevin describes as “monstrous and terrifying sounds” — a lot of snorting, lowing, and strained breathing. Kevin and I wondered if our lives were in danger, but Ronnie assured us that, as long as we didn’t get between him and the cows, everything would be fine. While The Ambler was distracted by getting a kiss through the fence from Esmerelda, Ronnie quickly opened the gate. Moments later, The Ambler was in the paddock. None of our cows are in season at the moment (Coco was in heat yesterday — bad timing!), but they seemed pretty happy to see The Ambler, just the same. Esmerelda, in particular, has been licking him, butting him with her horns, and generally acting loopy over him. She watches him very jealously if he starts spending too much time with Rosie and Coco.
Anyway, The Ambler seems to have settled in for a good stay. With any luck, all three of our cows will be in calf by the end of his visit, and three little angus-cross calves will be born on the farmlet next year.
[…] This morning, Ronnie came to move The Ambler on to his next assignment. Esmerelda looked rather upset to see him go, but Rosie and Coco seemed as if they couldn’t care less. We hope that the Ambler has left lovely little Angus-cross calves in the bellies of our three cows. To judge from the behaviour in the paddock, our cows seem to be in calf. We have seen no indication of any of them being in season for ages. (Even inexperienced cowherds like ourselves can often tell if an animal is in season, since they start mounting each other and acting all silly. If a bull is in the paddock, then his interest in the cow makes it even easier to see what is going on.) Two of the Ambler’s offspring have been born recently on Ronnie’s farm, and she is delighted with them. They were small calves, and easy for the cows to deliver. She says the calves look strong, healthy, and sleek, and have their father’s easy-going disposition. We are very hopeful that we will be able to say the same about the calves that are born on the Farmlet in July of next year. Spring grass, pregnant cows […]
[…] Esmerelda, our Friesian cow, is growing incredibly fat. I’m beginning to wonder if the Ambler’s calf, growing inside her, is going to spring forth fully formed!? We don’t think Esmerelda is due to calve until July, so how much bigger will she get? […]